EDC retirees collecting handsome pensions

Twenty-five former El Dorado County employees are part of the $100,000 club.

This means they are collecting a pension of more than $100,000 a year. It is taxpayer money that provides them with a defined benefit that must be paid before roads or other county services are dealt with.

Two former sheriffs are making more than $200,000 a year in retirement, while the average annual benefit for a retired employee with an office job is $16,141.

The figures were released this week by Joe Harn, auditor-controller for El Dorado County. Here is the CalPERS list by title and compensation amount.

The county’s unfunded obligation to CalPERS is $230,000,000, according to the latest actuarial report available.

“The county government’s unfunded obligation is $1,244 per each county resident. This doesn’t include the unfunded obligations owed by the cities and special districts,” Harn said in a statement. “This obligation will likely grow because the county is funding CalPERS using overly optimistic actuarial assumptions.”

Harn said in 1999 and 2000 supervisors went against his recommendation and instead changed its contract with CalPERS. The changes provided significant increase in retirement benefits to employees and dramatically increased the county’s unfunded obligation to CalPERS, according to Harn.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report